The impressively gorgeous NBA 2K15 re-enters the basketball arena and easily maintains its position as the best representation of the sport in video games. Nearly every player NBA looks and moves like his real life counterpart. Within moments after installing this the game, players can post up and fadeaway with Kobe, cross-over and make quick passes like Chris Paul, or display outstanding athleticism on both ends of the floor like Lebron James. Just as in previous years, NBA 2K15 is one of the best looking games, period. The visual details are in the game, from sweat beading up and dripping from player’s faces, to the tiny hairs that make up Anthony Davis’ unibrow. While Visual Concepts and 2K Sports deserve to be recognized for continuing to bring us a beautiful and realistic game, the glitches and issues within NBA 2K15 need to be highlighted as well. Firstly, like last year, this year’s iteration of the annual basketball sim relies heavily on having an active internet connection in order to connect to the 2K Sports servers. Unfortunately, just like last year, these servers leave much to be desired in terms of performance. While the game plays great on the court, it is incredibly disappointing to have the game back you out of MyCareer mode because the server lost connection to your console. The servers’ performance is hit or miss, you can play hours at a time and not have any problems only to come back a day later and find some modes completely unplayable due to a server error.

Despite repeating the same server issues as last year’s game, 2K15 does sport some noticeable improvements in presentation, Ernie Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal provide some humorous segments in the studio, during breaks in the action, cheerleaders/dance teams perform choreographed routines, and even your created MyCareer player can do halftime and post-game interviews with Doris Burke. Unfortunately, sometimes the character seems to forget to show up for the post-game interview and Doris is talking to herself! In an odd twist, Steve Kerr’s commentary is still included despite him now being the coach of Golden State Warriors, this can be largely overlooked, except in moments when you actually see Kerr on the sideline during a game. Its easy to understand that Kerr’s career move occurred too late to be removed, but with other publishers being willing to push back release dates to ensure the correct amount of “polish” in their upcoming games, it is tough not to be critical of 2K Sports for not doing the same.

The aforementioned MyCareer mode is back and is still among the best when compared with similar modes in other sports titles. In 2K15, players take on the role of an undrafted free agent, and attempt to work their way on an NBA team. One of the major benefits of this change is the ability to choose the team you sign with, as all of them are available, but teams will have varying degrees of interest based on their current roster. Creating a basketball player and working your way up the depth chart and into the starting lineup remains one of the best moments in sports games, but just like last year the scripted moments of MyCareer mode still contain loads of laughable dialog. Someone at Visual Concepts needs to learn that people do not talk like that. Also, there are a number of moments when your created player inexplicably behaves like a complete jerk to other players or to his assistant coach. Players are still provided two choices on how to respond in conversation, but unlike last year it seems to have little effect in the game. Perhaps the developer should consider hiring someone from Telltale.

One of the highly anticipated features in NBA 2K15 is FaceScan, a technology which utilizes the Playstation Camera or Microsoft Xbox Kinect to create a model of your face to put on your MyCareer or MyGM character. Unfortunately, while there is evidence to demonstrate that the technology works, it requires an amount of light that some gamers will not be able to get naturally or manufacture. The result for far too many gamers is a grotesque creature with multiple noses, eyes, etc. While some may dismiss this by suggesting people simply are not using the scan correctly, I would counter by asking, “shouldn’t this be easy to use?”

While taking all the previous points into account it is important to reiterate that NBA 2K15 still delivers on the court. The players, coaches, cheerleaders, mascot, and even the crowd are stunningly rendered. Players seem to have more weight to them this year and feel realistic when they move around the court. MyCareer mode features the voices of real NBA players, regardless of what team you’re on. The game’s MyPark mode which in its second year allows gamers to take their MyCareer player onto the hardwood for streetball is much better implemented in 2K15 and provides an easier method for playing with your friends. MyPark is a fun mode but just like MyCareer and other modes it is dependent on trustworthy servers, and after winning several games in a row with a random team I joined, it was the servers, not another team that kicked us off the court. It is safe to say that there are some who will love NBA 2K15 and there are just as many who will loathe it. The action on the court is as good as its ever been and I am really not sure how it can improve. But there are portions of NBA 2K that need to be rebuilt from the ground up. On both of the Next Gen consoles the servers have failed to provide stability, the game’s face scan feature works well for some but horribly for others, and the fact that Steve Kerr’s commentary remains results in a package that can be difficult to truly appreciate. Additionally, I feel like 2K Sports is not taking the opportunity to build on the current formula. International teams are included, but why aren’t there more? An international tournament mode would be a nice feature, and why not take the opportunity to include the WNBA? In summary, NBA2K15 feels like the result of a team that has won multiple championships and is too comfortable to put in the work to win another.

OVERALL SCORE: 7 out of 10

+Pros

+Beautiful Graphics

+Realistic Movement

+Real Voices

-Cons

-Server issues

-FaceScan creates monsters

-Same game different court

Julius Council is a writer, professor, IGN All-Star, IGN Comment Moderatior, and a Community Manager for IceDJGaming.com, his gamertag/PSN is RespectedGen1us but he's not really a genius, he put his real name in a Wu-Tang name generator and he stayed a Motel 6 last night. Follow him on Twitter.

In honor of the 4th of July, America, Will Smith punching aliens and independence day, this is a list of the 4 most patriotic Americans in video games. This is the list of characters I chose, but in no certain order, you may disagree with my list, so by all means feel free to do so in the comments below.

Guile

Aside from being brought to life in a film by Belgium born actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, Guile is American as they come. One of the original 8 characters in Street Fighter II. Guile has been flash kicking and tossing sonic booms since 1991. Although different versions of Guile’s story has been told in movies, comics, and games, the Air Force Major originally participated in the World Warriors Tournament to avenge the death of his friend Charlie. One would be hard-pressed to find Guile, or William F. Guile if you consider the live-action movie canon, without his American military inspired clothing. Early Street Fighter II sketches and notes suggest that Guile was developed specifically to appeal to American fans. This is made obvious by the aforementioned military inspired clothing, as well his chiseled frame, strong jaw, and piercing blue eyes, as well as his trademark dude-bro flattop, which was high enough to make every bodybuilder in Venice Beach during the ‘90s insanely jealous.

Jax

Not to be outdone by his Street Fighting counterpart, Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs, journeyed into an alternate dimension for Kombat against villains from the Outworld, to save his partner, Sonya Blade. Jax has the appearance of a tough African-American soldier and even carried a machine gun in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Because fighting for America requires everything from a soldier, Jax did what any patriot would do, he gave up his arms for cybernetic replacements. Jax is a shining example of truth, justice, and the American way, and in Mortal Kombat Legacy, he even becomes a Major in the Deacon City Police Force.

Mike Haggar

The epitome of American muscle, Mike Haggar, one of the playable characters in Capcom’s Final Fight is a former professional wrestler who becomes the Mayor of Metro City (Take that Jesse “The Body” Ventura). When the Mad Gear gang kidnaps his daughter, Haggar does what any American politician would do, he contacts his daughter’s boyfriend and one of his buddies and they set out to rescue her. Mike Haggar eventually retires from politics and gets back in the ring in Saturday Night Slam Masters and its two sequels. Haggar even gets the chance to face off with another American icon, Captain America himself, as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Being the ultimate dude-bro, wrestler, and politician, Mike Haggar eventually gets out of the spotlight and opens up a boat repair shop and a training gym, because…America.

Bill "Mad Dog" Rizer and Lance "Scorpion" Bean

Two characters for the price of one is what you get with Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, the protagonists in every gamers favorite ‘80s side-scrolling run and gun adventure, Contra. In the NES version, like a number of 8-bit co-op games, one character wears blue, the other wears red. While we cannot be sure if that was intentional or not, their color scheme screams America. Fortunately for many of us, the beloved Konami code was there to give Bill and Lance enough chances to survive their battle against the Alien horde.

These are just my thoughts and my perspective. At no point should I (or anyone that reads) pretend that my posts are a proper representation of the truth or solid facts. Also, my handle/gamertag/user name is RespectedGen1us (RespectedGenius); this does not mean I am a genius. I just put my real name in a Wu-Tang Name Generator.

These are just my thoughts and my perspective. At no point should I (or anyone that reads) pretend that my posts are a proper representation of the truth or solid facts. Also, my handle/gamertag/user name is RespectedGen1us (RespectedGenius); this does not mean I am a genius. I just put my real name in a Wu-Tang Name Generator.

Aside from Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, my experiences with South Park have been limited. While I do not feel the humor is offensive or beneath me, I have never been a fan of the show. For whatever reason, I have just never been that into it. I’ve seen a few episodes; the episode with the Mongolians sticks out in my mind. But like I said, I have never been that into it. But for some strange reason, I found myself being drawn to the fact that a South Park game was coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3. Oddly enough, when the game was released, I rolled over to GameStop and picked up a copy.

Even after seeing the very positive review on IGN, I waited a couple of days before I opened my copy, but when I did, I was delighted in the fact that I was creating my own kid to romp through South Park. Within minutes I was interacting with Butters, Cartman, and some of the other characters, and from then… I was hooked.

PROS

- South Park: The Stick of Truth is Laugh Out Loud funny at sometimes. Even if you do not watch the show, there are some moments that you can’t help but find hilarious.

- The combat is simple and easy. The game explains the use of turn based combat because that’s how people fought “in olden times”. It’s refreshing to be able to pick up a turn based combat system (something I’m usually not a fan of) but have it make sense all while the kids poke fun at you for taking too long.

- Authenticity. It feels like a movie! Like I said above, my experience with South Park is pretty much limited to Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. This game feels like a sequel to that movie. Whether it feels like a movie or an episode of the show to you is debatable, but what is not up for debate is that the game makes you feel like you’re in South Park. As I neared the end of the adventure, I started wishing there was more to come because I enjoyed the experience THAT MUCH.

- Length. Unlike other RPGs, South Park can be finished in an estimated 20 hours. (I’m guessing, I wasn’t really counting) For me this was a Pro. RPGs can sometimes just be far too long with far too much content. Even though I started wishing the game had a little more, I’m satisfied with that experience. If it had gone too much longer, I probably wouldn’t have finished the game.

CONS

- Some of the humor is outdated, such as pointing fun at Taco Bell, for example.

- While the combat is simple and easy. There are times in which you really wish you could avoid fighting for a few more minutes to explore in peace!

A Genius' Perspective

I’m not an official reviewer, so I will not waste my time or disrespect any professionals by dishing out any type of score. But if you like South Park, you’ll love The Stick of Truth, and even if you aren’t a fan of the show, there’s something here for you. Check it out.

These are just my thoughts and my perspective. At no point should I (or anyone that reads) pretend that my posts are a proper representation of the truth or solid facts. Also, my handle/gamertag/user name is RespectedGen1us (RespectedGenius); this does not mean I am a genius. I just put my real name in a Wu-Tang Name Generator.

If you follow my blog, then you'll know that I don't play First Person Shooters and not because I don't like them, but because I've never been able to play through one without getting an awful headache and nausea. Unfortunately, I was stoked about Titanfall mostly because, you know, big giant robots. I had my plan all put together, I was going to take dramamine exactly one hour before I started the game. I've been told that the medicine helps people like me that have this problem. I also know it is extreme to take a drug (a legal one but still a drug) just to play a game, but I was both desperate to find a solution to this problem, and curious to see if it works. Interestingly enough, when I went looking for the dramamine that I purchased a few weeks ago, I could not find it.

So I moved forward without it, put in my beta key, played some KIller Instinct while I waited for it to download and install on my Xbox One and away I went. I went through the tutorial and I was noticing something. At no point did I feel the urge to hurl or the sudden onset of what feels like migraine headache. I'm not sure if it's due to me using my new 70 inch television or the fact that this game just doesn't bother me as much as others have, but I did not feel any pain. Which seems odd because I was getting the same sick feelings just watching the IGN staff play it on livestream. Regardless of the reason, I was officially playing titanfall. I got in my first Attrition match (team deathmatch) and "lo and behold" I SUCK!!! A reasonable excuse would have to be that I have never played a first person shooter for longer than 5 minutes. Yes that includes Goldeneye, Halo, COD and all the rest. But after playing over 30 rounds of the game and leveling my character up to 14. I have to say that I'm actually improving.

This brings me to my first point... Titanfall is like First Person Shooter 101. I will be the first to admit, I wanted to treat the game as such, but I actually believe the game is created with the noob or casual fan in mind. For instance, as I'm sure you are aware, the 6v6 combat features grunts. In my first 3 or 4 matches. I had a ton of difficulty killing other pilots, but I was able to contribute (barely) to my teams total by taking out a few grunts. On the flipside I was getting killed by enemy pilots while doing so. So this was my first glimpse at strategy in the game and in first person shooters in general. The grunts are there to help you take time off your titanfall, they also give you roughly a quarter of the amount of points in the deathmatch as killing a pilot or dooming a titan. Using the smart pistol or a shotgun makes killing them ridiculously easy. The previous statement is why people will either love or loath Titanfall. Because the grunts allow players to get cheap easy points. However, there is just as much strategy in tracking a team of your own grunts and waiting for pilot to swoop in to take them out. When this happens you have your shot to take them out by using a gun, the extremely powerful jumpkick or by the awesome neck twisting execution.

Once you get beyond the grunts there are the spectres. These AI characters are like First Person Shooter 102. They also give you the benefit of decreasing the time from your titanfall, however, they can, and will shoot at you. While they truly don't offer much opposition, when an enemy pilot is chasing you the spectre does have the chance to take you out. This happened to me once, it was shameful embarrassing moment in gaming and I will never mention it again. There is also the ability to hack a spectre, but I'll be honest with you, I do not know to do that yet. I guess that means I only passed 102 with a C.

In the 200 and Above classes, you are going toe-to-toe with pilots, taking on Titans as a pilot, and actually piloting your Titan. This is where the game gets incredibly frenetic and is easily one of the more enjoyable experiences I've had gaming since I finished GTA V. When I watched the IGN stream of the game I thought the smart pistol was far too powerful, after playing the game. I think it's actually an interesting concept and from my experience, the other guns are more effective against pilots than the smart pistol, which requires 3 lock ons before it becomes deadly accurate. There are so many strategies that can be employed in this game, and I'm sure that this will be the perfect game for teams and tournaments. Everything I experienced has me excited for the game, and I'm now in the progress of testing out some other First Person Shooters to see if I can play them.

What about you? Are you prepared for Titanfall? What tactics have you been employing?

These are just my thoughts and my perspective at no point will I (or anyone that reads) pretend that my posts are a proper representation of the truth or solid facts. Also, my handle/gamertag/user name is RespectedGenius; this does not mean I actually am a genius. I just put my real name in a Wu-Tang Name Generator.

It happened. After all the years spent in arcades, playing console games with my friends, singing the Toys R’ Us theme song, sneaking my Gameboy into school, it happened. I grew up. Obviously I knew it had to happen, I had dreams about being an adult, and plans were even put into place. I did what a lot of people did, I went to college. Which actually turned out to be a melting pot of people that were not ready to grow up, but fortunately, I received my degree. I was hired by a company in my chosen field, obtained my masters, bought a home, and saw my career flourish.

Somehow, along the way, while I was doing what was expected of me (and what I wanted to do) I lost sight of one of the more important aspects of my life, Video Games. Sure, I would buy a new console on its release date, claiming that I wanted to be a part of the experience. But in all actuality, I was being a poser, and interestingly enough, I grew up to the point at which I’m pretty sure no one uses poser any more. My consoles collected dust. My PC became a machine for business and not for pleasure. I stopped renting games, when at one point in time; I’m pretty sure the local video store only kept games because my friends and I were buying them.

My friends grew up too. Put their consoles down, and picked up engagement rings and baby bottles. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I yelled at my friend because he sold his PS3 to GameStop just to have cash to go to a New Year’s party. But I was being a hypocrite, at some point I realized I was purchasing games and only playing them a few times before trading them in. It had nothing to do with the level of enjoyment I had playing the game, but games were passing me by before I could finish them.

Life had changed, I grew up. But it was shortly after this I had what people describe as a panic attack and it was due to work stress. Doctors, friends, colleagues were all surprised, they had never known me to stress. Truth is I hid it well. I always carried a large amount of stress, but it was games that helped me alleviate it, helped me get my mind off of things. This was roughly 2 years ago, and through gaming I found a solution. Certainly not a complete solution as I also began to exercise more, eat better, and get more rest. But gaming has become something I make time for.

Unfortunately, maybe it’s because I’m old or I’ve been out touch for a while GAMING has changed. In some ways it’s changed for the better, others for the worse.

Below are my gripes about changes in gaming.

DLC – Every game that comes out has additional content that I either have to pay for or wait for or both. I feel like I pay $60 for incomplete games.

Online – Too many games require you to play online or have your console online. Sorry, but I don’t like being called a lazy monkey’s uncle by some kid who is young enough to be my child.

Death of Co-op – A result of the change toward online there are very few games I can sit on the couch with a friend and play. This has made gaming a lonely activity for me. Unfortunately I do not have many Xbox Live or PSN friends; I don’t even know how to make these friends. Friend me on Xbox Live and PSN (RespectedGen1us)

Difficulty – I’m assuming that it’s because Gaming is so popular these days, but games are very easy! There are still some NES games I have never beat. But I seem to finish every game I purchase these days. What’s up with that?

Gimmicks - I have a PS4, Wii U and Xbox One. The Wii U came with a tablet, the PS4 has a touchpad, and you talk to the Xbox One's eye of Sauron. What ever happened to just playing the game?

What happened to…. – I really enjoyed side scrolling beat ‘em up games. Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, TMNT. These were some of my favorite games of all time! Do these games even exist anymore?